School reaches out to Uganda

Bishop David Brown’s head of drama Debbie Scott played host to Ugandan teacher Stella Aber.

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TWO schoolteachers have found they have a great deal in common — though they live more than 4,000 miles apart.

The Bishop David Brown School in Sheerwater has teamed up with a school in Gulu, Uganda, and both are now reaping the benefits of the new relationship.

The Sheerwater school was contacted by African Revival, a chairty that helps to establish links between schools in the UK and Uganda.

A link was set up and pupils from Bishop David Brown keep in touch with their new friends at Koro Secondary School by writing letters.

Head of drama Debbie Scott, 33, spent 10 days in Gulu at the start of the summer holidays.

She helped to teach in the secondary school there and worked with a Ugandan teacher, Stella Aber, 27.

Last week BDB pupils welcomed Miss Aber into their classrooms, where she had an opportunity to experience the ins and outs of the national curriculum.

The British Council has funded both of the teachers’ trips through its schools’ linking programme.

Miss Scott said: “African Revival was looking to link as many schools as it could with schools in Gulu.

“The north of Uganda has been in civil war for the past 20 years and Gulu has been hit. Through the programme we look at what the schools can do together.

“We have been fundraising and the children have been writing letters to each other.”

Children at the Sheerwater school have raised enough funds to buy a generator and a computer for their link school.

The generator will provide electricity that the school did not have before.

In future, it is hoped that students at Bishop David Brown will be able to fund an internet connection for the Ugandan school.

Miss Scott said that during her time in Gulu she assisted with some lessons, including teaching English, which the children learn for four hours every week.

And earlier this month, Miss Aber stepped on to English soil in her first visit outside Africa.

She said: “I expected the country to be a little bit different but when I got here it was very different.”

She explained that her students have very limited resources — sometimes they only have two textbooks between up to five schools.

The Ugandan government is meant to fund education but Miss Aber said that only a small amount was sent out. This meant children or their parents have to pay for their education, which costs about £14 a month.

Miss Aber said her pupils do struggle, as many work in the evenings and have to work in their homes but she wants them to persevere to achieve the best they can in their education.

She added: “I teach children aged between 14 and up to about 23. Some children have dropped out of school because of the war but then they return.”